Topic: background checks

OLYMPIA (AP) — Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and his wife have donated $1 million to a Washington state campaign seeking to expand background checks on gun sales, bringing the total amount the campaign has brought in up to nearly $6 million. The donation to the Initiative 594 campaign was given Friday but not made public until…

The Associated Press A new poll shows strong support among Washington voters for a ballot initiative that would require background checks on all firearm sales in the state. The Elway Poll found that 70 percent of people were inclined to vote for Initiative 594. The same poll showed that 46 percent of people were inclined to vote…

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — An Oregon bill that would require background checks for private gun sales appears to be in trouble. Senate President Peter Courtney has promised to allow a vote in the full Senate if the measure can get out of the Judiciary Committee. But there wasn’t enough support in Judiciary, so on Thursday that…

Supporters of universal background checks for gun sales on Wednesday submitted most of the signatures they need to qualify for a 2014 statewide initiative. Jewish Federation shooting victim Cheryl Stumbo and other Initiative 594 backers showed up in Olympia with an estimated 250,401 signatures on more than 15,000 petitions, according to the Secretary of State’s office. While…

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The Today File is a general news blog featuring real-time coverage of Seattle and the Northwest. It is reported by the news staff of The Seattle Times and includes stories from The Associated Press and McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.